It’s a fact that Midland is the smallest market of any in Double-A baseball. And during the last decade, the trend at this same level of minor league baseball has been for franchises to shift to markets that are larger and in some cases destination cities.

Midland’s league, the Texas League, has seen franchises move from El Paso, Wichita, Kan., and Shreveport, La., to places such as Frisco, Springdale, Ark., and Springfield, Mo., over the last decade.

But as the 74th Texas League All-Star game played out at Citibank Ballpark on Wednesday, it was apparent to some of the power brokers in minor league baseball and with the Oakland A’s organization that Midland’s franchise and the city is doing it right and will have this level of baseball for many years to come.

“What Midland has is longevity in terms of ownership and management that have worked with the community to bring it to the point to where it’s a community treasure,” said Texas League President Tom Kayser. “It’s a rock in the fabric, so to speak, and I’m mixing metaphors, but it’s a central piece of the entire community because the community plays larger than it is.”

Kayser was the first to admit that if Midland were to ask today to be a part of the Texas League, it wouldn’t likely happen.

But Kayser said the city and ownership have such a strong relationship that it’s a major reason the team continues to thrive in a league that has seen some major changes recently. And Kayser added the club does a good job of marketing beyond Midland County’s borders.

“There is a great physical plant, a beautiful stadium and fans who support the effort,” said Pat O’Conner, the president and CEO of Minor League Baseball, who was in town Wednesday for the game. “Is it the exception in the 21st century? Maybe so. But as long as the people continue to do what they’ve been doing, it will continue for a long time.”

Midland voters overwhelmingly made the commitment to build a new ballpark a little more than 10 years ago, winning a referendum at the ballot box in 1999. Citibank Ballpark, whose construction was funded by a quarter-cent sales tax, opened in 2002. But to show how much the Texas League has changed since that time, Citibank Ballpark is now the second-oldest stadium in the league. It, according to officials, is still regarded as one of the best in all of minor league baseball.

Plus, the Midland RockHounds have been affiliated with the Oakland Athletics since 1999, and the current player-development contract between the two franchises runs through 2012. That relationship is one of the longest running between a city and a parent club in all of minor league baseball. That relationship also is responsible for two Texas League titles.

The relationship and ballpark have helped Midland survive as minor league baseball changes.

“Sometimes these player-development agreements end up being shotgun marriages,” said Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane, who was in town this week for the game. “I’ve known (RockHounds owner) Miles Prentice and (General Manager) Monty Hoppel for a long time. One of the things that was important to them when we first came in was to bring a championship in and we brought two. I think that has helped the relationship.”

That doesn’t mean there aren’t issues to deal with. The RockHounds would like the city of Midland to make capital improvements to the stadium during the next few years, the major one being the building of a batting cage/maintenance facility.

The club asked the city’s 4B board earlier this year for the facility and said it could cost around $300,000. Beane admitted that is something that the A’s would like to see built, but he said that with today’s economic climate you have to walk a fine line in asking for that kind of money.

“There are always things you’d like to have as an organization, and I think batting cages would be helpful,” Beane said. “I know that’s something that’s still on the agenda a little bit. But these are necessarily not the times that you go around asking cities for things. You have to be a little bit respectful to the times.”

Beyond that issue, though, Beane, O’Conner and Kayser all agreed that Midland has made a commitment to keep Double-A baseball in the city for a long time, adding that the relationship between all parties is the key to success.

And even as Double-A baseball goes through some major changes, Kayser said he expects Midland will be a part of the league for a long time to come.

“Midland is not going anywhere, not unless they decide they want to go somewhere, which is unlikely because there is nowhere for them to go,” Kayser said. “Actually the lineup that you see in the Texas League now is liable to be the lineup for the next 20-30 years. Midland is going to have Texas League baseball for another generation at the very minimum.”